Nuggets-Thunder Preview

By JORDAN GARRETSON
Posted Jan 16 2013 1:47AM

When two of the NBA's hottest teams meet Wednesday night in Oklahoma City, one thing seems like a certainty: a lot of points.

The Thunder look for their fifth straight win and 10th in 12 games as they face the Denver Nuggets, who put their season-high six-game winning streak on the line.

Both clubs rank near the top of the league in scoring with Oklahoma City at 105.1 points per game and Denver at 102.7.

Oklahoma City leads the NBA with a 30-8 record and has won 14 of 15 at Chesapeake Energy Arena, averaging 109.3 points in that stretch. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook carried the offense in a 102-90 road win against Phoenix on Monday, with the duo scoring 47 of the team's 51 second-half points.

"You don't see that often, two guys just take over the game offensively in that second half," coach Scott Brooks said. "You can't say anything other than just make sure you set good screens and make sure you execute and run the plays. ... We have a couple of sets that we run where we look for opportunities to get quick baskets. They ran it to perfection."

Durant, who had 27 of his game-high 41 points after the break, is shooting 56.1 percent in eight games this month. He averaged 35.7 points on 59.1 percent shooting in three games against Denver last season, scoring a career-high 51 in a 124-118 overtime win against the Nuggets on Feb. 19.

The Thunder defense has also been stronger recently, limiting opponents to 90.9 points per game on 41.2 percent shooting over the last seven contests. The last two foes combined to shoot 38.8 percent despite Serge Ibaka being out with a chest contusion.

Ibaka, Oklahoma City's leading rebounder (8.4) and shot-blocker (2.8), is day to day.

"It's not a secret," center Kendrick Perkins said. "We're a defensive team first and we're going to keep building on that. Our goal is, every game, we have to keep the team under 40 percent. We're just trying to start off the defensive end. We know we're going to score points. We just have to keep our 'D' up."

That could be a challenge against Denver (24-16), which needed overtime to extend its win streak Tuesday against Portland. A 3-pointer from Wilson Chandler with 14.9 seconds left in the extra session put the Nuggets ahead for good in a 115-111 win.

It was only Chandler's second game back after he missed two months with a hip injury. A labral tear in his left hip was surgically repaired in the spring, but the pain returned in November.

"The way the game was going for me, I was a little fatigued," said Chandler, who has 27 points in 40 minutes of action since returning. "I had a little muscle fatigue, so I was kind of struggling throughout the game. So to come in and hit a shot like that is big."

Point guard Ty Lawson, who had 24 points and 12 assists against Portland, continues to run the offense effectively and owns a 4.3 assist-to-turnover ratio over his last five games.

"I was trying to attack, and when I attack, it brings assists because people have to double me or come over and help," Lawson said.

The Nuggets are averaging 109.8 points during their six-game winning streak, though all but one of those games were played in Denver, where they are 15-2.

They've been far less consistent on the road, but they won their last trip to Oklahoma City 106-101 on April 25 despite a combined 62 points from Durant and Westbrook.

Thunder snap Nuggets' win streak, 117-97

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Jan 16 2013 11:40PM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Not even halfway through the first quarter, Russell Westbrook had already provided a showcase of his All-Star array of talents.

Pushing the pace to earn free throws, getting inside for a layup, popping a mid-range jumper, he had done it all. And the Denver Nuggets were never able to answer.

Westbrook scored half of his 32 points in the opening quarter and the Oklahoma City Thunder went wire-to-wire for a 117-97 victory Wednesday night, snapping Denver's six-game winning streak.

"What can you do?" All-Star teammate Kevin Durant said. "He's shooting the jump shot. If you pressure him, then he goes to the rim. It's like a nightmare when he's making that jump shot.

"So, hopefully he continues to keep making it. ... These last few games, he's been really good at scoring the basketball and taking the pressure off everybody else."

Westbrook's monster first quarter followed a season-best 36 points in Oklahoma City's last game Monday night at Phoenix. And this time, he needed only three quarters to do his damage.

The Thunder pulled their starters with a 25-point edge heading into the fourth quarter. It was only the second wire-to-wire win of the season for Oklahoma City, which has a league-best 31-8 record.

Denver was riding its longest winning streak of the season, but needed overtime to beat Portland only a night earlier and never could match Oklahoma City's energy.

"There's always those three or four or five games a year that you can't get it going, and tonight we couldn't get it going," coach George Karl said. "And you're playing maybe the best team in basketball."

Durant and Kevin Martin each scored 20 points for the Thunder. Durant also matched his career best with five steals.

Kosta Koufos had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the Nuggets, who fell to 3-6 this season in the second game of a back-to-back set.

"We knew these guys were coming on a back-to-back, playing overtime last night, so we just wanted to get into them and make them make quick decisions with the ball," Durant said.

Westbrook hit six of his first eight shots and had 16 points in the first 10 minutes, with the Thunder continuously pulling away. Oklahoma City scored the first seven points of the game and also had a pair of 8-0 spurts in the first quarter while getting out to a 34-18 lead.

"I come into the game confident, honestly, and I just come out and take the shots that's given to me," Westbrook said.

It wasn't until after Nick Collison's two-handed dunk stretched the advantage to 45-23 in the first 3 minutes of the second quarter before Karl finally spent a timeout. The Nuggets never got closer than 17 after that.

"We didn't have a good offensive game, we didn't have a good defensive game, we didn't have a good energy game. They seemed to be the hungry team from the very beginning," Karl said.

"Their studs got into the game at a high level very early and scored a lot of points. We never got into our flow."

Denver had won after trailing in the fourth quarter or overtime in its previous four games, but dug too big of a hole to mount a comeback this time.

The Nuggets scored 11 straight points immediately after Oklahoma City pulled Martin, its top reserve, and put him on the bench alongside the starters. That still only cut the deficit to 101-84.

It was the fifth straight win for Oklahoma City in its only home game between sweeping a three-game West Coast road and heading back out for six more away from Chesapeake Energy Arena.

"We're greedy," Durant said. "In this league, you've got to be greedy. Just as quickly as you can win four or five in a row, you can lose four or five. You never can be complacent."

JaVale McGee had a couple of highlight-reel dunks among 15 points for Denver. Andre Iguodala scored 12 and Danilo Gallinari 11. The Nuggets had 21 turnovers, one shy of their worst total of the season.

The Northwest Division rivals will play again Sunday in Denver.

Reserve Wilson Chandler, who hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in the Nuggets' overtime win against Portland on Tuesday night, did not play.

Serge Ibaka returned to the Oklahoma City lineup after missing the past two games with a chest contusion and had five points, six rebounds and five blocks in 26 minutes.

NOTES: Asked before the game who should be the Nuggets' All-Star candidates, Karl said backup point guard Andre Miller has been the team's MVP so far. ... Oklahoma City corralled an offensive rebound on nine of its first 16 missed shots. ... The Thunder scored 67 points in the first half. Their season-high for first-half scoring was 68 against Houston on Dec. 29. ... Oklahoma City reserve Nick Collison sprained his right ankle in the first half and did not return.

Notebook: Thunder 117, Nuggets 97

Randy Renner, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Jan 16, 2013 11:38 PM - Updated Wed Jan 16, 2013 11:38 PM

THE FACTS: A shootout between two of the NBA's hottest and highest scoring teams never materialized as the Oklahoma City Thunder jumped on the Denver Nuggets early and never let up in rolling to a 117-97 blowout win.

The Thunder (31-8) led by as many as 28 and were powered by hot shooting nights from Russell Westbrook 32 points (12-for-20), Kevin Durant 20 (7-for-12) and Kevin Martin 16 (6-for-8).

Denver (24-17) was playing the second night of a back-to-back and looked like it. The Nuggets seemed a step or two slow from the opening tip. They were led by 16 points from Kosta Koufos on 6-for-6 shooting, he also grabbed nine rebounds. JaVale McGee came off the bench to add 15 points, Andre Iguodala dropped in 12 but was just 4-for-10 shooting. Danilo Gallinari had an even worse night (3-for-10) and scored 11 points.

Thunder forward Serge Ibaka was back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a bruised chest. Ibaka scored only five points but he also blocked five shots and grabbed five rebounds. Both coaches emptied their benches in the fourth quarter and no starters for either team played in the final 12 minutes.

The Thunder win snapped a six game Nuggets winning streak and OKC has now won six in a row and 10 of the last 12.

QUOTABLE: "We're greedy. We're just trying to play up to our level. We know though as easily as you can win five or six straight, you can lose five or six."
-- Kevin Durant

QUOTABLE II: "We came out with great energy at the start and set the tone with our defense, then that allows us to play better offense. I thought our ball pressure was really good. They didn't see a lot of openings and when they did Serge blocked a lot of shots."
-- Thunder coach Scott Brooks

THE STAT: Westbrook, Durant and Martin combined to score 72 points on 27-for-42 shooting (64.3 percent)...The Nuggets three leading scorers coming into the game Gallinari, Iguodala and Ty Lawson combined to score 25 points on 8-for-24 (33.3 percent).

TURNING POINT: The Thunder never trailed, getting off to an 11-2 start. OKC scored 34 points in the first quarter (Durant and Westbrook combing to score 24 of their team's first 26) and 33 in the second adding up to an avalanche of points the Nuggets couldn't dig out from under.

QUOTABLE III: "We didn't have a good offensive game and we didn't have a good defensive game. We didn't have a good energy game either. The Thunder seemed to be the hungrier team from the very beginning. We never got into our flow and our offense just wasn't there."
-- Nuggets coach George Karl

HOT: The Thunder started the game 6-for-9 (66.7 percent) and finished the first quarter with 34 points (second most in a first quarter this season) on 13-for-22 (59.1 percent)...Westbrook was 4-for-5 (10 points) in the first six and a half minutes and finished the quarter 6-for-8 (16 points). Westbrook was 9-for-15 (25 points) in the first half...Koufos was 5-for-5 (13 points) in the first half...Martin was 5-for-7 (14 points) and Durant 6-for-10 (16 points) in the first half. Koufos finished the game 6-for-6...McGee was 5-for-6 (15 points). OKC was 6-for-8 (15 points) on the fast break.

NOT: Denver began by shooting just 40 percent (4-for-10) and finished the quarter at 36.8 percent (7-for-19)...Gallinari and Corey Brewer were each 1-for-5 in the first half. Kendrick Perkins was 1-for-6 for the game.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Oklahoma City's 88th straight sellout crowd watched the game inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez watched the game from courtside seats.

GOOD MOVE: Durant said before the game the Nuggets reminded him of his own team so he said it was even more important than usual to come out focused and begin the game with a lot of intensity. OKC did just that, scoring 67 points (tied for most in a first half this season) on 54.3 percent shooting and took a 20 point lead into the locker room at the break.

BAD MOVE: Nuggets head coach George Karl said forcing Ibaka to shoot jumpers would be a focus for his team. Ibaka shot only one jumper in the first half and made it. He wasn't much of a factor on offense (five points) but the Nuggets had no answers for Westbrook, Durant or Martin.

NOTABLE: Thunder backup forward Nick Collison sprained his right ankle late in the first half and did not return to the game. For now he's being listed as day-to-day...Westbrook's 32 points in 28 minutes makes him just the third Sonics/Thunder player to finish with 30+ in 28 minutes or less in the last 25 years. Sedale Threatt and Xavier McDaniel are the other two.

UP NEXT: For the Nuggets, Friday vs. Washington, Sunday vs. Oklahoma City, Wednesday @ Houston. For the Thunder, Friday @ Dallas, Sunday @ Denver, Tuesday @ L.A. Clippers.

• Nuggets: Chandler, Miller
• Thunder: Orton

• Nuggets: Faried
• Thunder: Durant

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #55 Bill Kennedy, #26 Pat Fraher, #31 Scott Wall
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:16